Les pionniers de l'Espace

A documentary report on the Peenemünde rocket research centre (1936–1945), established by General Dornberger to develop liquid-propellant rocket propulsion. Drawing on the secret archives of the Heeresversuchsanstalt (seized by the Americans in 1945 and returned to Germany shortly before publication) the authors reconstruct the history of the A4 (V-2) programme, the A5 trials, and the anti-aircraft rocket project known as "Cascade" (Wasserfall). Illustrated with 113 archival reproductions (photographs, engineering drawings, and ballistic diagrams) the book traces the origins of modern space propulsion from the first tests at Kummersdorf to the evacuation of Peenemünde in February 1945.